John Pule: A Survey 1990-2011
14 December 2011 - 18 January 2012
Preview: Tuesday 13 December, 5 - 7pm
When John Pule first arrived in inner city Auckland as a young adult in 1980, the formal tenets of poetry and painting were largely unknown to him. Over the next 30 years Pule would explore new directions as both writer and painter, and has since emerged as one of this countrys most recognised painters and one of the most celebrated artists of the "New Oceania".
This exhibition John Pule: A Survey : 1990-2011 is timed to coincide with the Auckland opening of Hauaga the first major survey exhibition of his works at the Auckland Art Gallery, and attempts to recognise all that the artist has accomplished.
In a sense, Pule is foremost a poet. His poems are visceral, personal accounts of humanity and experiences of Pacific peoples, both at home and in the New Zealand Diaspora. The lyricism of his poems, to some extent, provided the content - the images, colours, motifs and energy - that would later underpin and populate his paintings. John Pule: A Survey 1990-2011 brings together works from different phases of his career. Chronologically beginning with the hiapo inspired works of the 1990s through to new drawings the exhibition provides an eloquent overview of his works to date.
